Supervisors hold last meeting of 2014, first meeting of 2015

by Bob Beach

During public comment time at the regular meeting of the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors Tuesday, December 30, Jack Sweeney of Waukon told the Board that its decision not to award the lease of County Farm cropland to the highest bidder was unpopular with many people. Sweeney said that the Board's long-held position that the land shouldn't be sold because the County needs the income is no longer a credible argument because the County is now "throwing away $12,000 per year." Sweeney questioned whether bidders in future may hesitate knowing that the Board of Supervisors may or may not choose the highest bidder. He suggested that if the County doesn't need the income from the County Farm land, it ought to be put up for sale. If the land is not sold, Sweeney suggested that an outside, independent company should handle the bidding process.
Chairman Larry Schellhammer responded by saying that the Board's decision on the County Farm lease was the result of a process. He said that he and Supervisor Dennis Koenig had their reasons for not accepting the highest bid. He conceded that perhaps the Board should have allowed the new lease contract to deal with any potential problems with renters, but that he stands by his decision. Supervisor Koenig said that he had nothing more to say on the subject.
During regular business, County Engineer Brian Ridenour asked for and received the Board's approval of an agreement with the Iowa Department of Transportation for an intersection improvement project at Highway 52 and Empire Drive to lay asphalt from the highway to the railroad tracks. Ridenour also presented the Board with a resolution to set weight limits on numerous bridges in the County. He said that several of the weight limits had been adjusted following recent inspections and that new signs would be posted showing different weight limits for three different types of trucks. The Board approved the resolution.
During department reports, County Attorney Jill Kistler asked the Board to consider setting County holidays to coincide with State holidays so that courthouse offices are not closed when the Clerk of Court's office is open and vice-versa; the only change needed would be to set Martin Luther King Day as a recognized holiday and keep courthouse offices open for Presidents' Day. Kistler also asked the Board to keep its regular meeting time as Tuesdays at 9 a.m. so that she could continue to be present at the Board's meetings. She said that she believes that having legal counsel available during the Board's meetings is "more important than newspaper articles."
A representative from The Standard (this reporter) reminded the Board that the reports and official minutes of the Board's meetings held Tuesdays are not published for eight days after those meetings and that anyone who wishes to address the Board in an open forum has to wait an additional six days after reading about the Board's activities in the newspaper.

Following the swearing in of re-elected Supervisor Larry Schellhammer and newly elected Supervisor Dan Byrnes Friday, January 2, the Board held an organization meeting during which Schellhammer was re-appointed as the Board's Chairman and Supervisor Dennis Koenig was appointed Chairman Pro-tem. The Board then voted to return its regular meeting time to Mondays at 9 a.m. with public comment time at 9:15 a.m., though Koenig voted no. Other organization matters, such as the official County newspapers, mileage and meal reimbursement rates and bounties on coyotes and gophers, were left the same.
After concluding its organization business, the Board voted to re-appoint Jim Janett, Laura Olson and Bruce Palmborg to the Upper Explorerland Transportation Policy Enhancement Committee.